Is Dhony greatest of all Indian captains?

yes

no

maybe

When MS Dhoni strode to the pitch at the fall of India's third wicket against Sri Lanka on Saturday, an audible gasp rippled through the nation.

Everyone wanted to see the imperious and in-form Yuvraj Singh at that critical stage of the World Cup final. They had their reasons.

As a batsman, Dhoni had looked unconvincing in every game. It wasn't just the number of runs he had scored - 22, 7 and 25 in the three previous matches-but the unimpressive manner in which he scored them.

Worse, his surprise preference for the potentially erratic paceman Sreesanth over off-spinner R Ashwin had backfired and further firmed up the anti-Dhoni mood. The knives were out.

But in the next 30 overs, as he played the most valuable knock of his career that helped India lift the Cup again after 28 years, Dhoni showed why he is The One.

He nudged and nibbled at first, eschewing every risk. Then slowly he took charge. Dhoni walked into the field as a beleagured cricketer; he left as a superman.

Lodged in that Cup-winning innings are the clues to the defining features of his captaincy, the ingredients that have made him perhaps India's greatest captain ever. The 29-year-old raja of Ranchi demonstrated that small-town boys make great CEOs too.

Promoting himself bravely, Dhoni put himself directly in the firing line. Like a team leader who commands by example, the Indian skipper bet on himself.

During the entire innings, Dhoni displayed a Zen master-like calm under extreme pressure. He was in control: of himself, the surroundings and the game.

His colleagues in the pavilion looked more anxious. He shepherded Gambhir too. No mid-pitch madness with him around and the asking rate was always kept to manageable levels. He was the coolest guy at Wankhede after hitting the match-winning six.

Dhoni's reign as a captain has been marked by India's remarkable ascendancy in world cricket. Under him, India won the first T20 World Cup in 2007 and became the No 1 Test playing nation for the first time. Under his leadership, the Chennai Super Kings have won both the IPL and the IPL Champions league. He has no more worlds to conquer.

Is he India's greatest captain ever? Statistics suggest that. In ODIs, his 62% success rate is higher than everyone else.

His World Cup record, 83% wins, is better than everyone else. So is his Test record. But then captaincy is much more than just outcomes.

Indian cricket has seen dozens of astute captains. Most don't have the statistics to illustrate their point. By all accounts, though, MAK Pataudi was a shrewd tactician and Ajit Wadekar has a couple of historic wins to his credit. Mohammed Azharuddin too has a bag of victories under his belt though he was anything but inspiring as leader.

In the end, it boils down to a battle between Sourav Ganguly and Dhoni. Ganguly took over the reins at a time when Team India was racked by match-fixing allegations.

A great talent spotter, he created a pool of players - Sehwag, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Zaheer, indeed Dhoni himself - who form the core of the new Men in Blue. He took India to the 2003 World Cup final and defeated Steve Waugh's all-conquering unit at home, held them abroad. He gave them self-belief.

Dhoni has inherited a far more stable team. But the fact remains that Dhoni has taken Team India and its self-belief to a whole new level. Ganguly's team still had remnants of feudalism; Dhoni's unit is totally modern, fully 21st century. Under him, the team regularly snatches victories from the jaws of defeat. Whenever the chips are down, someone comes up with something special. Dhoni is remarkably focused, forthright and result-oriented.

They say he is not a good strategist. But, of late, Dhoni seems to be improving with every game. On Saturday, his fielding placements choked the Lankan openers. His bowling changes -- for instance, bringing on to Harbhajan to counter Umar Akmal's big hitting against Pakistan -- was spot on.

Perhaps his real test will come when the golden greats - Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman - depart from the scene. And, when Zaheer Khan loses his sting.

It looks pretty certain though that Dhoni will find a way. Throughout his career, the son of a former pump operator has adapted remarkably to change. The long locks vanished against Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf's advice. The short hair was less flamboyant but made him look more responsible. As a batsman, he swapped adventure for responsibility. The strike rate went down and so did his number of supporters. But the changed image helped when his name cropped up for captaincy.

Throughout the Cup, Dhoni kept playing his signature helicopter shot in a television commercial. Those annoyed with the India skipper's poor run of form often wondered aloud if he would ever play the shot in the championship.

The truth is, he didn't. Not a single time in the 295 balls he faced. Not even when he smote paceman NLTC Perera high into the stands to ensure India's triumph. Nobody knows the huge margin between art and reality better than captain MS Dhoni.

MUMBAI: He has played under six captains in a career spanning 21 years but senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Monday rated current India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the best for his sharp mind and calm demeanour.

Tendulkar has played six World Cups in his career but it was under Dhoni that the iconic batsman realised his dream of becoming a part of a winning team after they beat Sri Lanka in the finals at the Wankhede stadium on Saturday.

"He (Dhoni) is the best captain I have played under. He is very sharp and always alert. He reads the situation well and is open to sharing ideas. He always has discussions with bowlers, batsmen and senior players separately," said Tendulkar.

"One more good thing is he is always calm and never shows his frustration. These are some of the human qualities which have made him such a good captain. He is a fantastic captain," he added.

Asked about outgoing India coach Gary Kirsten, Tendulkar said he wants the South African to continue.

"Personally I want Gary to continue but I understand he has got commitments and he must have thought about this before the tournament. I respect his decision," he said.

"It has been a pleasure to work with him, he worked as hard as the players, he is like a bowling machine, bowling 200-300 balls to the batsmen. It has always been a fabulous experience to rub shoulder with him, we will miss him," he added.

Tendulkar feels the team peaked at the right time at the knockout stage after playing some close matches in the league stages of the tournament.

"In the knockout stage we peaked at the right time, it was most important, we knew either the batting was clicking or bowling or fielding but everything was not clicking together, but in the last three games. Everybody contributed, right from seniors to the juniors in the team. Results no one can guarantee but efforts can be," he said.

Tendulkar said winning the World Cup was the biggest day of his life.

"My biggest day in life was April 2, 2011. We had to pinch one another that it was actually happening in our life. I thank God for such a day, it was by his grace."

Asked how did the team deal with pressure, Tendulkar said they just tried to give their individual best.

"Pressure and expectation are always there, we were thinking that as individuals we should perform our best. If bowler fails, others will take wickets we were not thinking like that, we wanted to do our individual best and perform as a team."

"If a batsman failed, the aim was that the other batsmen should cover up for him. Pressure was of my own expectations. I won't say it was pressure but preparation," Tendulkar said.

Asked about the finals, Tendulkar said, "We planned a lot of things ahead of the final, we discussed a lot of things, but nobody was thinking about lifting the trophy. Obviously they were at the back of our minds but we wanted to go through the process and finish the game.

"We wanted to restrict them at the minimal total and chase the total. We were focusing on the process," he said.

Asked about the last lap on the shoulders of his teammates after winning the World Cup title, Tendulkar said it was a pleasant surprise and thanked his colleagues for the gesture.

"I became extremely emotional and those were happy tears. It has never happened in my life. It was truly an amazing experience to do the lap. I was not expecting that and I was taken by pleasant surprise. I want to thank all my teammates for that gesture. What a way to end the World Cup. It was an overwhelming experience," he said.

To a question as how did the team prepared for the World Cup, Tendulkar said the real preparation started after the South Africa series and the Bangalore camp helped the team to gel well.

"Preparation started some time ago but the real preparation was after the South Africa series when we spent 50-55 days together in the Bangalore camp, that really helped us," he said.

"We had various meeting, sharing experience, thinking what we should be doing and what to avoid, it was a package which was a successful one, it helped us to bond and understand each other better."

Tendulkar also walked down his memory lane and recalled the various moments of his life, one of which was walking into the dressing room in 1987.

"I remember India playing in England and the various moments, winning the World Cup was the ultimate one, but there were other moments also which I will never forget.

"My brothers are a big fan of Sandeep Patil. I was just 10 years old and I was just jumping and enjoying the moment, the bigger memory I have was walking into the dressing room, Sunil Gavaskar introduced me to the various players and it was an amazing experience," he said.

When it comes to record and performance its Dhoni who is numero uno. No doubt about Ganguly as he built the team from scratch and that itself is toughest thing to do . But few years down the line it will be records that speak and Dhoni will have best .